Like Siamese Fish

Freescha & Kid Kills the Floor

2005-07-29T23:49:00.000+01:00

There's something about this record that rings eerily familiar in your ear everytime you hear it, it's probably the perfect disc to look back and evaluate life with, it's simple tunes, it's frail beat, the gentle and slow progression of each song, it's beautiful. Before I listened to the album I had no idea what Freescha sounded like at all, I only knew that they were electronically based, I actually read beforehand that they were glitch IDM, which I can safely say they are not.

The albm begins with it's best song, which perhaps isn't how all albums should be but the atmospheric weight of this disc makes it essential that the band sets the tone as early as possible, and what a good job they do. As I listened to this album by a band I knew very little about I thought it was music that had been adapted strongly from something I'd already found ejoyable but I was wrong, no matter how hard I searched it wasn't there, it was just sound engineered to help the listener familiarise. The record has an echo of Brian Eno in it in the way it aims to take a feeling that the listener can relate to and recreate it sonically to establish comfort. It does more than just pull it off, it perfects it.

I strongly recommend you give this album a go, again it's another disc where I've only shared one song but I think it will show you everything the album is about in just four minutes and eleven seconds...

Freescha - Every Shiney Night

Caribou & The Milk of Human Kindness

2005-07-26T17:31:00.000+01:00

Caribou/Manitoba is supposed to be someone I fall in love after people have said that he is great and similar to artists such as Four Tet and Matmos for a while now, if you add to that fact that he says his biggest inspiration is My Bloody Valentine and that he's on one of my favourite record labels, Domino, then you can see how I had high expectations with him. I never even really liked Manitoba but some of his improvisations when performing live were very creative so I listened to him anyway, this new Caribou album is alright but still nothing special, so you are probably wondering why I did a blog on it at all.

Well, I was listening to it again today, giving it the respect of revisiting as so many of my peers think it's ne of the albums of the year, when I suddenly realised that two of the songs on the album are actually pretty good, and one of those two songs is more than pretty good, it's pretty fucking fantastic in fact.

I like the dumbed down feel of the beats and the way the drums keep the album moving at a pace you could just about dance to but easily sit back and have a smoke with as well, normally these albums seem to go one way or another, and these "folktronica" albums seem to be always leaning a long way toward the latter. He seems to have a song in "Pelican Narrows" which is the only one I can think of that goes both ways so well, granted it's quite a bit more aimed on the chilling out side of things but it's definitely got enough tempo and interesting time signatures to keep you interested through a dance. It's one of the songs of 2005 so far in my opinion, and this album sounds a whole lot better now I know what it's leading up to.

The other song that I thought stood out a bit was "Bees" which is one I think will be more interesting for the every day listener because it's a lot more like the rest of the music being put out by similar artists and doesn't feel like a lesser version of everything else I've heard like this album. It also lays alot more of the emphasis of the song with the guitar he uses and the traditional instrumentation, especially the inclusion of vocals, will make it an easier listen for most people.

Caribou - Bees
Caribou - Pelican Narrows

Do Make Say Think & Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn

2005-07-25T23:19:00.000+01:00

I'd really been sleeping on this album, for some reason I'd had them confused with Do Me Bad Things, that terrible little band that has been getting some hype lately, and thus I avoided them. I was sent the album a few days ago though and gave it a listen and it's such a great record throughout that I really am ashamed to have not heard it previously in the two years it's been around, but right now I'm really feeling my post-rock so it has come at the right time and probably made more of an impact than at any other stage over the past two years.

The album opens with it's best song, a great 9 minute example of how to write a long song and never let it get boring, "Fredericia," a masterpiece no less. This song would not feel out of place on an Explosions in the Sky album, which as they're my favourite post-rock band of all time is quite a statement for me to make. They have definitely felt more of an influence from them and Godspeed! than they have the bands on the electronic side of the genre and older bands like Slint and Bark Pyschosis.

There's no other great standout tracks throughout the album, if I had to pick a second favourite then I'd go with "107 Reasons Why" but the rest of the album is only really good thanks to the fact that it flows so well as opposed to it really being an album of filler and a few tracks that make up for it, like most post-rock.

I can't wait to hear a follow up.

Do Make Say Think - Fredericia

Saint Etienne & Foxbase Alpha

2005-07-23T01:16:00.000+01:00

This is an album that for me stands out as one of the greatest ever made, everything about it is so well produced, performed and written that there really are no flaws. On top of that it has some killer stand out tracks that are hallmarks of the dance genre, "Only love can break you heart" being the daddy of them all perhaps. I chose this disc to blog this week just because I've seen it mentioned alot more lately and it's not left my portable CD player for a good few weeks, plus it's really been playing on my mind how good it is since I produced my top100 albums of the past 20 years list.

The album opens with a short intro "Radio Etienne" which can't be counted as a song to be honest, then it moves onto "Only love can break your heart" which I see as the seminal dance classic of the 90s, eclipsing anything else I've heard from the era. After that we move through a few more cool tracks including the bizarre LSD tribute, "Wilson" which works quite well with the slightly narcosis and heavily relaxing attitude of the album as a whole. The album then arrives slowly at the point where back to back we hear two of the most laid back, complete and beautifully performed songs I've ever heard in "Spring" and "She's the one." The album keeps up the ultra-chilled vibe from then on in with "Like the Swallow" being the last standout beauty, even though I think that the vocals are a bit weak on this once.

This is the album to crank up at a barbecue with a few beers and some friends, it has that awesome melancholy feel with uplifting beats and entertaining vocals throughout, it really does get the essential tag.

There isn't much to say about it that hasn't already been said and if you've not heard it then all I can say is that you must do so as soon as you get the chance, these three songs here really do speak for themselves...

Saint Etienne - Only love can break your heart
Saint Etienne - Spring
Saint Etienne - She's the one

Bark Psychosis & Hex

2005-07-18T15:46:00.000+01:00

Bark Psychosis are a band that I've always wanted to get into just thanks to the legend that surrounds them, but I never really noticed just how good it was until earlier this week, this is after I originally heard the album around Spring time this year.

The post-rock genre has been growing enormously over the course of the years. But, even among the fans, only a few people know about the band and the album that gave birth to this definition. In 1994, a relatively unknown group released a LP that is still undeniably beautiful and innovative. The name was Bark Psychosis, the album was "Hex."

While Slint, another legend of this genre, based their sound on guitars, these guys created an unique kind of music, said to be influenced more by 80s Talk Talk, they're something that gets close to ambient, although it’s not the same.

These seven songs are surreal and in many reviews are seen as a stream of conscious ambience much like Brain Eno's work. The loom immediately starts to wrap you up in an entanglement made of both melancholy and a hidden, subtle anxiety, that is fully expressed in the album's ultimate peak, "Fingerspit," where the sudden, harsh crescendos break the sorrowful gloom. What’s astonishing about Bark Psychosis is also their ability to make the silence meaningful, in a way that reminds such slow-core masters as Codeine or earlier Low. It's bizarre to think how far removed post-rock is from slow-core these days, when you compare bands such as EITS to the latest works from Low you see no comparison.

On "Absent friend" you'll be relieved with what is much more what we expect of post-rock with Sutton's guitar at the center of the stage, supported by beautiful keyboard’s layers and those jazzy drums that are all over "Hex."
While listening to the extensive and epic closer "Pendulum man" I wondered if this was the song that influenced Radiohead in the making of their 2000 album, "Kid A." In particular, Motion picture soundtrack will feature the very same feeling.

This album is completely essential in every way and it should only take one song to convince you:

Bark Psychosis - Fingerspit

Why are Joy Division the greatest band of all time?

2005-07-16T14:51:00.000+01:00

THIS IS WHY

Thom Yorke at the Bridge School in October 2002

2005-07-14T10:34:00.000+01:00

This live recording took place on the nights of the 26th and 27th of the month and is something I have been listening to lately on a more frequent basis than anything that Radiohead as a whole ever released. The intamacy of the gig does not take away from the intensity of listening to Radiohead live or the craftmanship of hearing them on disc, it's pretty much the perfect blend.

Yorke opens the set with "Everything thing in it's right place" simply playing the piano and beginning the song minus the live mixing that Greenwood usually supplies us with and the song is reduced pretty much to it's bare bones. The performance proves just how great a songwriting duo they make and the song comes accross as a much better piece when you can hear it in both styles. He then moves on to a performance of "I might be wrong" which whilst coming out just fine doesn't have the energy that it really needs, something that I assume is only going to be supplied by the full band. The tone of the guitar is what is most impressive about that rendition, vocally it's, as per usual, dead on. "Sail to the moon" is the next song and this is one of the standouts from the first night with Yorke's haunting vocal technique that sets the song in an even more sombre state, the distant piano is definitely not the focus of this performance as Yorke proves what a talent he has, something that always seems overshadowed by the creative influence of Greenwood when performing as Radiohead. "Like Spinning Plates" is performed on both nights and both times Yorke forces you to listen to the most acclaimed lyrics of his catalogue and puts you on the spot as the listener leaving you in awe. After that "There There" is the next song and whilst the guitar is a particular standout in comparison to the "Hail to the Theif" original it's still not a great performance and ultimately forgettable. The next three songs however, the last of the night, are anything but forgettable. First we have a stunning performance of "Pyramid Song" even more haunting than the album version or even the single, vocally this song is as near perfectly performed as anything I've ever witnessed live and when you consider the piano's role in the song and the huge instrumentation and engulfing sound it has to imitate, he does more than a good job with that too. As this track climaxes you see what Yorke is all about, controlled emotion and beautiful pitch, it's definitely one of many career highlights in my eyes. The live version of "Lucky" is just what is to be expected, it was always a live track which is why such a memorable song was never put out as a single if you ask me, it's clearly one of the general favourites on "OK Computer" but no one really pays attention other than some of the performances, I always see it is as the highlight when I hear them live, Yorke doesn't dissapoint but it would be pretty hard to top the full band's performance of this song. The last track of the night is a Neil Young cover, "After the Gold rush" and in tackling this one Thom is taking on a song deemed by many to be the greatest of all time, an anthem very different to the mood of Radiohead in any of their main stages, but he pulls it off well, and I always like when people close with a cover of something they enjoy personally, too. Vocally he does a good job but there really is nothing he could do to eclipse Young on this one, it's really just a good job he did it justice.

Now you may think that I've written a lot there about the first night but it simply does not compare to the second night where he moves through many of my favourite Radiohead songs and leaves and matches the band with every step. The opener is "Street Spirit" which is actually one of my least favourite Radiohead songs and one I always found to be slightly overrated but he pulls it off well here on the night, his voice is different to last night's set right from the off, he is much more powerful and controlled as opposed to quiet and fragile. After that we're on to "Morning Bell" which I never really liked too much on "Kid-A" so I wasn't too sure what I'd make of it but it works really well here, vocally (again) he nails it and with a climax that tops the original and most of the two nights here at the Bridge School as well. This is probably the standout piano track from the entire disc. "Nice Dream" is one of my favourite songs and one of my least favourite at the same time, sometimes Yorke just sounds like he's whining in this song but at other times I see it as his voice is more fragile than ever, the way the song pitters out from about the half way mark is interesting as well and the chord progression sounds a lot better without the backing guitar of Greenwood which is, at one stage after the second chorus, replaced by Yorke's vocals. The next three are all tracks he played on the opening night after "Nice Dream;" "I might be wrong," "Sail to the Moon" and "Like spinning plates." The first two just sound like last night's versions which was a little disappointing but the intesnity of "Like Spinning Plates" is out of this world, the way he builds the song up in your mind and then takes it away slowly until he ends with you barely noticing it is all Yorke, not a thing to do with the band here, and he proves it. This version far surpasses any version I've ever heard of it before, even the stunning rendition on the "I might be wrong" live recordings which when I first heard it blew me away. The final two tracks of the disc are far and away the best two, but then, they are my two favourite Radiohead songs so perhaps I would always say that. "True Love Waits" is performed with enough emotion and quite blatant delight that it almost brings a tear to your eye, and that is no exaggeration. The song always moves me when I've heard it but this version is the only one I've heard that comes close to that magical first time they performed it, if this never ends up on an album it will simply be because they don't want to perform it where they can't fully let themselves go and bleed all over the mic. Every version I've ever heard of this is different to say the least, and this one might just be the best. The final track is the definitive Radiohead anthem and one they don't always perform live as a band, "Paranoid Android." It is probably the highlight of both sets as with nothing more than an acoustic he brings to life the shattering beauty of the original minus the tremendous insterumenation and sheer noise that is usually at his songwriting genius' disposal. The song somehow manages to keep the energy even as Thom's voice starts to fade toward the end of a mammoth set and a song that even live and solo he can still keep going for very nearly six minutes. The performance is too good if anything and this version is perhaps too close (at least in his vocals) to the original, but there can be no complaint there, especially with this being the only acoustic version of the song I'd heard and the way he nails it in all four parts of the such a classic song.

Well, pardon the long paragraphs and the lack of originality in the review format but every song on this album needed to be mentioned, they're all unbelievably good and many are an improvement on the work of one of the greats. I was tempted to put the entire disc up for download and if you message me on AIM then I'll send you it anyway, the more people who can hear this the better.

Thom Yorke - Paranoid Android
Thom Yorke - True Love Waits
Thom Yorke - Like Spinning Plates (second night)
Thom Yorke - Pyramid song

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

2005-07-11T01:15:00.000+01:00

CYHSY are a band that are unsigned and have only one self released album that is currently out of print, but somehow they are the most talked about band on the internet lately. The album has no real standout tracks as all of them are as addictive as the next, they really are very good at what they do. They'll make you dance, sing along, smile and feel good with their hooks and interesting drum loops, the bass is more than addictive too, it's really bloody good.

I can't really think of anyone who sounds even remotely like them and doing a track synopsis is really not my style with this band, they've been compared to all manner of bands from Neutral Milk Hotel to Talking Heads to pre-88 My Bloody Valentine and all of these comparisons, especially in the vocals, are very much warranted.

If you must draw comparisons then the guitars sound like early Modest Mouse, the vocals are being compared to Magnum on Neutral Milk Hotel's "On Avery Island." Vocally the NMH comparison holds a lot of weight but musically they are a lot faster, lyrically a lot more upbeat and the general feel of the music is very different. Either way, this is one of the albums of the year, essential for any music fan, but especiallly one who's looking to have a good time.

There are three tracks available at the band's website but I'll leave you to google their name and click on the first link that comes up, if you wouldn't mind.

Here are your free songs:

CYHSY - Let The Cool Goddess Rust Away
CYHSY - Over And Over Again (Lost And Found)
CYHSY - The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth

My top 100 albums of the past 20 years.

2005-07-04T20:00:00.000+01:00

I'm a regular at a music forum (where most of you are probably from) and in response to a list published in SPIN recently that we all strongly disagreed with, or at least the ordering of, we decided to make a list of our own. The list was a feature about the top 100 albums of the past twenty years and I'm sure you can find it on various messageboards around the net, it if I were to post it here then it would take up far too much room.

So myself and 80 other forum regulars composed a list of their twenty favourites and they combined together to form a top 100 overall, that, however, is not the list that is posted below. I decided not to stop at 20 and made a top 100 of my own, see what you think of it:

001: My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
002: Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
003: The Microphones - The Glow, pt. 2
004: Radiohead - OK Computer
005: My Bloody Valentine - You Made Me Realise
006: Four Tet - Everything Ecstatic
007: Rites of Spring - End on End
008: My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything
009: Slowdive - Souvlaki
010: Four Tet - Pause

011: Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West
012: Ulver - Perdition City
013: The Pixies - Doolittle
014: The Aphex Twin - Richard D. James album
015: Rival Schools - United by Fate
016: The Jesus & Mary Chain - Darklands
017: Radiohead - The Bends
018: Jeff Buckley - Grace
019: Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane over the Sea
020: Portishead - Dummy

021: Four Tet - Rounds
022: Nouvelle Vague - s/t
023: Saint Ettiene - Foxbase Alpha
024: Feist - Let it Die
025: Jill Scott - Who is Jill Scott?
026: Explosions in the Sky - How Strange, Innocence
027: Cranes - Wings of Joy
028: The Manic Street Preachers - If you tolerate this then your children will be next
029: John Zorn - Masada Guitars
030: New Order - Substance

031: Seafood - When do we start fighting?
032: The Jesus & Mary Chain - Psycho Candy
033: Half Japanese - Charmed Life
034: Sonic Youth - Dirty
035: At the Drive-In - Relationship in Command
036: Sigur Ros - ()
037: Furslide - Adventure
038: Disco Inferno - Di Goes Pop
039: Primal Scream - Vanishing Point
040: Bjork - Post

041: The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
042: Lush - Spooky
043: The Stone Roses - s/t
044: Pixies - Surfer Rosa/C'mon Pilgrim
045: Ride - Going Blank Again
046: Ou Va Voi - Laughter Through Tears
047: Radiohead - Kid-A
048: The Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92
049: The Microphones - Mt. Eerie
050: Dinosaur Jr. - Bug

051: Sonic Youth - Sister
052: The Concretes - Boy You Better Run Now
053: Galaxie 500 - On Fire
054: M83 - Before the Dawn Heals Us
055: Xiu Xiu - Fabulous Muscles
056: Annie - Anniemal
057: Bee & Flower - What's Mine Is Yours
058: Neutral Milk Hotel - On Avery Island
059: Pulp - Different Class
060: Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antartica

061: Bethany Curve - You bought us here
062: Fugazi - 13 Songs
063: Massive Attack - Blue Lines
064: Bjork - Debut
065: Sonic Youth - Bad Moon Rising
066: Primal Scream - Screamadelica
067: Broken Social Scene - You Forgot it in People
068: Mogwai - Come On Die Young
069: Belle & Sebastian - If you're feeling Sinister
070: The Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas

071: Oasis - Morning Glory
072: The Cure - Disintergration
073: The Microphones - Don't Wake Me Up
074: Clinic - Internal Wrangler
075: Autolux - Future Perfect
076: Modest Mouse - Interstate 8
077: Gigantic Brain - The Invasion Discography
078: The Projects - Let's get Static
079: John Zorn - Naked City
080: Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

081: Nirvana - In Utero
082: Joy Zipper - American Whip
083: Múm - Remixed
084: Blur - 13
085: Chungking - We Travel Fast
086: The Cocteau Twins - The Pink Opaque
087: Modest Mouse - Everywhere & His Nasty Parlor Tricks
088: PJ Harvey - Rid of Me
089: Squarepusher - Feed Me Weird Things
090: Dinosaur Jr. - You're Living All Over Me

091: Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs
092: Slint - Spiderland
093: The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
094: The Cocteau Twins - Blue Bell Knoll
095: Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
096: Death Cab for Cutie - You can play these songs with chords
097: Godspeed You Black Emperor! - F.. A.. Infinity
098: The Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2
099: Boards of Canada - Music has the right to Children
100: Life Without Buildings - Any Other City

Au Revoir Borealis

2005-07-03T16:09:00.000+01:00

A Detroit based and that formed in the late 90s and released just one EP in 2000, Au Revoir Borealis are not exactly what their name might suggest but they're certainly a great group.

The 2000 EP "Teinken" mixed the post rock vibes of Godspeed! and EITS with aspects of folk and indie rock, topped off with delightfully faint female vocals that will have you melt. Stephanie Halpert, the vocalist, has unfortunately not carried on after the band's split into any sort of solo career or new band which is a crying shame. The EP never takes up the pace too far and you're not left in the dizzy narcosis that is Godspeed's "INFINITY" or EITS's "How strange, innocence," no, Borealis definitely take a more subtly approach to getting accross their fantastic instumental ability. The band have a great deal more of the Sigur Ros feel but with similar progressions and influences to the other, aforementioned post rock bands, Mogwai are another they would no doubt admit they owe a lot to.

The only other song the band put out was on a Nick Drake tribute album where they performed "Fruit Tree" but I've yet to hear that song, unfortunately.

If you can find the EP I suggest you buy it no matter what the price, brilliant stuff:

Au Revoir Borealis - UntitledAu Revoir Borealis - Heaven's downward

Swervedriver's Peel Session

2005-07-03T13:15:00.000+01:00

Swervedriver are the one shoegaze band it's taken me a while to get into, I have copies of "Mezcal Head" and "Raise" but rarely really listen to either, though at first I was in love with "Mezcal Head," I guess when I look to shoegaze I don't expect to hear individual chords and look more for some music to absorb me rather than make me listen.

I came accross the Peel sessions on Swervedriver's website a little while ago and they are what really broke me in, particularly "Zedhead," there is just so much energy in that performance, it's unreal. "Volcano Trash" is great as well, to find riffs that are seriously creative in shoegaze is a rare pleasure, the clear vocals and lyrics help the song along a lot too.

If you can pick up the live catalogue of Swervedriver then I say you do it as soon as you can, especially if you like both brit pop and dream pop but you don't need that narcosis feel from the likes of Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine.

Here's two mp3s:

Swervedriver - Volcano Trash (Peel)
Swervedriver - Zedhead (Peel)

My Bloody Valentine - You Made Me Realise

2005-07-01T12:08:00.000+01:00

This is one of just a few blogs I've made about albums that are not new to me, but I hope this is still new to some of you.

I think this is possibly my favourite album of all time, and it's only 5 tracks long. The title track is quite possibly my favourite song of all time, it's so brutal that it sets me back everytime, it was the bands main track when they played live, they'd drag it out to epic proportions of around 20 minutes usually and once, in Paris, it played for 45. The other track on side A is "Slow," a droning song that sounds almost like sludge metal where Shields sings about oral sex. The second side of the album is pretty interesting too, "Drive it all over me" has some of the best drums the band have ever put together and is one of their most underrated songs by far. "Thorn," the track that begins the second side of the record, is one of my personal favourite pop songs and the swirling guitar effect will never be more perfect than it is at the start of that song, one where Kevin's vocals are far more clear than usual. "Cigarette in your bed" is the other song on the record and another great track in my opinion, it's an old My Bloody Valentine classic, one that many chose for complitions (including Creation themselves in 1989) and one of the better selling singles they released.

I listen to this record almost daily and never remotely quietly. If ever there was a record to bypass 12, 13, 14 and even 15 on your ten notch stereo for, this is the one.

Here is the full album for download, if you don't take it then you're a sinner:

You Made Me Realise
Slow
Thorn
Cigarette In Your Bed
Drive It All Over Me

Some random MP3s

2005-06-28T20:32:00.000+01:00

I haven't really heard a new album that's blown me away in the last two days so I figured I'd just make a blog with some of my favourite songs on it so that I don't go another week without posting.

Daedelus - Just Briefly

I first heard Daedelus over at Stereogum a few months back and haven't picked up any of his releases as of yet, this song is nice though, it has a Four Tet feel to the downtempo beat and I definitely think it's an act I need to look into further.

Jazztronik - Spur (Little Big Bee Mix)

I don't like most Jazztronik so much, maybe it will grow on me but it hasn't in the last year or so I've been trying to force it on me. This remix, however, is quite something else. The way the lyrics are sung is so effortlessly cool that it's sexy beyond words.

Patti Smith - My Generation

I hate the Who with a fiery passion and this is one of my favourite songs, go figure. I love my cover versions and I think this song sums up just about why, such a faster, angrier and more interesting version than the original or any of the other covers I've heard. Oh, and the Cale solo... *drool*

Dead Milkmen - I hate Myself

Taken from the 2003 release "Now we are 20" this is far and away my favourite Dead Milkmen song; the tune is fun, the lyrics are fun and the delivery is priceless. Great stuff, especially for a Dead Milkmen newbie.

Lemon Jelly - '79 aka the Shouty Track

I remember when I first saw the video for this on 120 Minutes and at first I just laughed at the two animated men on screen beat the shit outta each other, but then I realised how I was dancing in my seat and realised that there was a truly addictive beat pulsating through me... awesome track.

Bic Runga - Sway (acoustic)

This song was in American Pie, I know, but please don't let that put you off, it's one of my favourite love songs of all time and this acoustic version is even better than the original, in my opinion.

Belle & Sebastian - Get me away from here, I'm dying (Peel session)

Far and away my favourite B&S song, this is the best track I've posted here today. One of my very favourites.

Coachwhips & Bangers vs. Fuckers

2005-06-26T18:38:00.000+01:00

John Dwyer's Coachwhips are about as raw as rock & roll can get; lo-fi recordings, power chords left right and centre and so much treble on Dwyer's guitar that the music bursts out of the speakers and literally assaults your eardrums. The furious pace of the record is summed up in it's less than 20 minute running time but those 20 minutes are 20 you'll enjoy each and every one of, that is what Dwyer tries to assure. The keyboard skills of Val-Tronic are put to you use perfectly the keys are played at furious pace throughout but act to set the rhythm more than anything else. As for the album's vocals you really do have them driven at you with force, I saw it best described as if Dwyer was "singer through the reciever of a demolished telephone." Val even joins in on the vocals in the final track "Goodnight, Goodbuy" where the band make sure their audience have enjoyed themselves and finish just the way they begun.

All in all the album is something that everyone should hear just because it's unlikely anyone has really tried anything quite the same as it before, especially not the decision to limit the album to twenty minutes in length which, incidentally, improves the album ten fold. After it ends you'll want to hear it again right away, if it went on for much longer though you could easily find yourself bored of the assault you undergo.

Coachwhips - You gonna get it
Coachwhips - Dancefloor, Bathroom

Furslide & Adventure

2005-06-25T15:47:00.000+01:00

Furslide's 1998 "Adventure" album was their only release and it's one of my favourite records of all time. It's a tragedy that Furslide never got round to releasing anything else especially since Jennifer Turner never followed up her work and the only music she put out beforehand was as the lead guitarist behind Natalie Merchant.

"Adventure" is a journey that sets Turner's private hell to a blend of rock styles that can be both aggressive and pensive at the same time. It is to Turner's credit that the three singles from this album are completely different from each other: "Over My Head" is a waltzing elegy that sounds like a punchier version of Cocteau Twins; "Love Song" is a psychedelic vortex of dreamy vocals, violins and distorted guitar; "Skinny Girl," possibly the best of the lot, is a Breeders-style semi-dissonant pop-rocker. "Bring you Down" was not used as a single but is my favourite song from the band, the violent hard-rocking and violent song opens with crashing drums and then moves to abrupt guitar chords until the crashing finale with two guitars sounding like 8 and the screeching vocals of Turner capping the song off brilliantly.

I originally bought the album just because I thought it had an interesting cover and I needed one more album to take advantage of a 5 for £20 offer in Harrods, it sat on my shelf for months and never seemed like it was going to get an airing, thank goodness it did.

Furslide - Love Song
Furslide - Bring you Down

Colder & Heat

2005-06-24T16:06:00.000+01:00

Marc Nguyen Tan, aka Colder, impressed a wide range of people with his debut album 'Again'. This year sees him return with an equally excellent follow up, having remixed Depeche Mode and toured in the interim. Some have compared the sound to Joy Division, but Colder's music is never quite as tortured as Ian Curtis' offerings. The mood has always been a kind of subdued melancholy rather than outright anguish, with smoky jazz samples on Downtown and the slow thripping drum roll on Losing Myself. On My Mind is the most introverted song on the album, with its hollow vacuum tube loop and minimal clicking drums.

Heat is not all wallowing however, with it's dirty bass guitar and bold kick drums, 'To The Music' is a very danceable post-punk track, something that could easily have come from Playgroup or Tom Vek.. Overall, the album feels like a Gitane cigarette - sleek, French, and full of tar - but oh so satisfying.

Colder - Downtown
Colder - To the Music

CoCo Rosie & La Maison de Mon Reve

2005-06-24T13:12:00.000+01:00

Parisian sisters Sierra and Bianca Cassidy have put together a lazy record which has a name that literally means "the house of my dream." The album is beautifully melancholy and has been touted as something that combines HipHop and Blues but you definitely find far more of a blues influence in their lo-fi guitar tones and harmonies. The passionate delivery throughout helps the fact that the lyrics aren't exactly amazing but the simplicity of CoCo Rosie is really the entire attraction, especially when you consider the vast range of unconventional instruments they use throughout, even opening the album with an alarm clock sounding and ending the first track with the sway off a rusty swing. The way CoCo Rosie avoid being pigeonholed into a genre is utterly effortless and the enthusiasm they possess for creating something beautiful is fully evident throughout. If they can move on past the idea of just making something they can look back on as a beautiful album they've made and instead create an album with more artistic credibility in the future, something to really cap off their romantic, soothing and ultimately the stereotypically Parisian sound with the terrific production on "La Maison de Mon Reve" then we will all be in for one hell of a treat.

CoCo Rosie - Butterscotch
CoCo Rosie - Terrible Angels

Architecture in Helsinki & Incase we die

2005-06-18T15:52:00.000+01:00

Twee pop band of the moment Architecture in Helsinki are definitely one of those bands that are really getting a great many plays on my Audio Scrobbler account this past fortnight, it's definitely some of the most fun music I've heard in a while. The most endearing thing about them as a band is something that is omnipresent in indie bands of the moment, the way they manage to cram quite so many genres into just 3 minute long songs, it's delightful how ambitious the record is.

The genre that is still being classed as mere twee pop but is in fact so much more already has a token leadership band, however, and that is the rather well known Fiery Furnaces but if any band is going to take that crown it would have to be AiH's eight members and boundless levels of giddy excitement that gel together to make the Australian outfit sweet enough to give you a toothache. The advantage that AiH have is something they make full use of; the eight members, most of which sing on the record, are really put to use instrumentally as well combining in almost every way imaginable in a 12 track album.

The title track is supposedly the best example of this, a 3.33 track split into four parts beginning with an electronic feel and random percussion, progressing to a group chorus and ending with a blast of the french horn... interesting, no?

Anyway here are three (count 'em three!!) songs from the album:

Architecture in Helsinki - In case we die (Parts 1-4)
Architecture in Helsinki - It'5!
Architecture in Helsinki - Do the Whirlwind

Bird & The Insides

2005-06-18T13:30:00.000+01:00

This was easily one of my most anticipated albums ever, I heard "Slowly Slowly" when I downloaded it from a blog site about a year and a half ago and have searched for the album since, I could never even find any information online about it. I was just beginning to give up hope when I came accross a review of her album on Phase9, then I knew the title of the album I was looking for and could search properly (being that there are so many Birds it was hard to locate one that had made no impact aside from the scene in central Dublin).

The album itself is perhaps not everything it could have been and has one completely standout track in "Slowly Slowly" which was written a long time before the rest of the music on the album incidentally. This song has the right to be a cult classic as well, I have no idea if it achieved any radio airtime at all in Ireland but through vast searching for information on the artist I can assume it didn't get any in the UK or US of A at least. The track is what pop music should be about really, a vibrant beat, average to good vocals that sing the particular song well, a great hook and the option to either dance, sit and listen, or practically ignore and leave for background music. The rest of the album is very different indeed, most all of it is acoustic and very singer-songwriter in it's style though "Runaway" is a standout track that falls pleasantly between the two styles.

A dab hand at the cello, violin and drums, not to mention in possession of a sultry voice, Ms Price has crafted an album of sublime melodies. Her omnipresent cello lends each track a seductive quality, while drums, guitar and occasional electronics introduce some urgency whenever they appear. You'll simply find it hard to believe it's a solo effort when you air the record originally, a talented musician she most certainly is.

Bird - Slowly Slowly
Bird - Rewind

Joanna Newsom & The Milk-Eyed Mender

2005-06-18T12:54:00.000+01:00

You're probably wondering why I'm blogging about this release now rather than something from the preent year but when I first heard Joanna Newsom in 2004 it didn't first strike me as something that I'd enjoyed. This was odd for many reasons but mostly because I usually adore the twee pop-esque vocals and the music, especially the delightful high pitched nature of the harp, accompany it brilliantly. The twee pop nature is perhaps overshadowed by better songwriting than most similar artists and that is likely to be what first scared me off I suppose.

When staying with friends in London I heard the album a few more times but whilst it was certainly more enjoyable it still didn't make me want to go out there and buy it right away. I then just discarded the album for a few months until I stumbled upon some live footage on soulseek and fell in love with the way she moved and enjoyed her music so much, the package is merely completed by her innocent and enchanting voice.

The album itself is now something that sits in quite heavy rotation in my house right now, played once or twice every two or three days even. I've chosen another two songs to put up on here, the standout opener "Bridges and Balloons" and my other favourite from the record, "The Book of Right-On." Neither really show a more melancholy side to Newsom's writing but they are both so perky and fun like most of her record that it's a far more accurate depiction of her sound, and I highly recommend seeing her live.

Joanna Newsom - The Book of Right-On
Joanna Newsom - Bridges and Balloons

Life Without Buildings & Any Other City

2005-06-18T12:24:00.000+01:00

I remember when I first heard LWB, lying on my bed at around 4am, quite drunk and with my friend sleeping on my nearby sofa. He awoke halfway through "The Leanover" was first played at my house and liked it enough to demand that I put it back to the beginning, he said the vocals were too good to miss. As the song began again we both woke up a little bit and stared at the laptop playing us this pretty little thing, we were pretty much mesmerized by it already... then we heard something I'd not caught the first time around, there was a reference to My Bloody Valentine at the start of the song. Being that My Bloody Valentine are of, if not my very favourite band of all time I was obviously impressed to see them cited as an influene on what seemed to be almost twee pop. Upon researching the band I found that they also reference The Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth, two more longstanding faves and I decided I had to get the album. I was quite impressed with what I went on to hear.

The band are usually compared to the Rapture, Spoon and the Concretes all of which are understandable. I'd rather not compare them to Spoon as I feel they only really have percussion beats in common and I'm not too big on Spoon at all. The vocals of Sue Tompkins are definitely similar to Victoria Bergsman of the Concretes although Sue is more full of life and excitable if you ask me, the comparison the Rapture will mainly come from the influences the bands list; Talking Heads (even though their name comes from a Japan b-side), Gang of Four, Television and early PiL. It's hard to categorize them but they definitely walk a thin line between two distant genres in twee pop and post-punk that really just blend together to form a nice poppy record in "Any Other City." The band first released trough Tugboat who are conveniently affiliated with some of the aforementioned influences and indeed the Rapture as well, they scored that deal with the release of their debut 7", "The Leanover" with a b-side of "New Town" which are the two songs you'll get to hear today. The single secured them a deal with a label who funded their UK release of "Any Other City which came out in February 2001.

LWB were a breath of fresh air to the Scottish music scene which had no real pop groups that sang about things other than the end of relationships, blame B&S for that. The other slowcore bands that were around at the time were a bit downbeat too obviously so when they did burst onto the Glasgow scene it made sense for them to travel to London for their deal. Not much is known about the band but they split, as many greats do, shortly after their debut and none of the contributors have been seen since. A cult classic of the future, I'm sure.

Life Without Buildings - New Town
Life Without Buildings - The Leanover

Ulver & Perdition City

2005-06-16T19:03:00.000+01:00

This album came out in 2000 and was the band's crack at composing a soundtrack for an "interior film" as they put it. Of course, no film was ever released from Ulver and the soundtrack is really far too obtrusive to score any piece of cinema, it requires too much focus to really be used with a film very well, however you can see why they tagged it such because it has such a clear theme and most certainly an ambient feel throughout.

Unlike most opuses that go relatively unknown this album has two massive stand out tracks on it that will quite simply blow you away with their mounting tension culminating in an explosion of noise that will leave you in awe. The album opener, "Lost in Moments," the first of these two standous and my personal favourite song on the album. It shows just how far the nordic four group have come since their black metal days to a stage where they can produce ambient jazz electronica for lack of better imagination to describe such engulging noise, there's even some true industrial in there as well. When it ends you're left begging for more and throughout the album you will not find yourself even a tad disappointed. The second standout is "The future sound of Music" which is anotehr absolute stormer which builds in much the same way and is a better example of the industrial influences on Ulver.

The thing that will first set you back when you listen to the album is the way it's so unlike anything else that's being made now or indeed in 2000 by any other band, it's truly original music with so many notable influences that hopefully it will never be pigeonholed into a genre or even have a new hybrid sub-genre formed in it's honour. "Perdition City" stands alone as one of the best albums of recent times that the band have yet to top, I even prefer this to thier far better acclaimed "Svidd Neger" which I also thought was superb. This is not an album that you can put on anytime, it really has to be experienced when you have time just to relax, listen and let the sounds of the city carry you away.

This album is a huge experience as a listener of music, you will enjoy it. Trust me.

Ulver - Lost in Moments
Ulver - The Future Sound of Music

Nouvelle Vague & their self titled debut.

2005-06-15T23:22:00.000+01:00

After 6 months of thinking about it I have decided that this is my favourite album of 2004, just ahead of Annie's "Anniemal" and Feist's "Let it Die" both of which I have been in love with at some point over the last eight or nine months as well. The thing that swayed it Nouvelle Vague's way would have to be the delightful vocals all over the album, each track is a sexy reincarnation of (mainly) post-punk songs originally designed to carry a serious message. All the songs on the album could have been percieved as depressing in one way or another.

The album opener is a cover of one of my all time favourite songs, Joy Division's "Love will tear us apart" and from the very beginning I find myself hooked and carried away by it's mellowed rhythm and soothing vocals. The track opens the album with the sound of waves falling on the beach before the instantly recognisible opening of the post-punk classic sways into the speakers. Then we have the lush vocals of Eloisa break us into realising exactly what this album is going to be all about, the interest in the album grows.

After that we have Depeche Mode's "I just can't get enough" completely re-vamped to sound almost dance hall and the vocals are twee-pop esque and delightful again. The next track is my favourite on the album and one of my all time favourite cover songs, especially when you consider I wasn't much of a fan of the Tuxedomoon original, but the vocals again steal the show here and make the song as beautiful as it could possibly be. The sway of the percussion in Nouvelle Vague's music is unusual as well, it would often be seen as a bad thing and somewhat unprofessional but it puts such an intelligent twist on so many songs you'd have never expected it of that you can't help but adore it.

Then the album hits it's low point with a disappointing cover of the Clash's "Guns of Brixton" which I always felt was overrated but this cover is one of the few on here that don't manage to out shine the original. Then it's back to anotehr high point of the album with their cover of PiL's "This is not a love song" which is perhaps the one song on the album that stays truest to the original with slightly more agressive vocals and more distinguishable chords beneath the washy sound of the rest of the album. There really is no way to better describe the album other than "washy," the way we begin with the wave at the start of the album is quite iconic of the rest of the albums flowing sound, a great drug album but without the narcotic droning of Joy Zipper and their contemporaries.

The album then moves from the melancholy feel of the previous two tracks to the sexy excitement we'd already fallen in love with. They now cover the Dead Kennedy's "Too drunk to fuck" with the biggest improvement on the album, the one song that is as upbeat as the second track "Just can't get enough" but with the sexiest little screeches in the vocals too, Camille does a great job with this one. The album remains upbeat for the next two songs as well, "Marian" originally by Sisters of Mercy sounds nothing like the goth metal band's original and has the easiest tempo of all the songs on the album, the vocals are much lower in the mix than any of the others and this helps maintain the underwater feel throughout, especially lyrically where they found a good song to put in the middle of an album with such a theme. Then it's on to "Making plans for Nigel" originally an XTC great of course, this one is as close as Nouvelle Vague come to a straightforward pop song in the whole record, the song sounds like it's simply been dumbed down and had some great Camille singing thrown in there to make it even more delightful, whilst a particularly enjoy this it should really be seen as filler and definitely nowhere near single potential.

The Cure's "A forest" is believed by many to be the most depressing stuff Smith and Co. ever penned and the cover doesn't ruin that at all as the band begin to show some diversity just as the album has begun to sound as if they were a one trick pony. "A forest" is kept with a low and even mix of all the instruments including Marina Celeste's beautiful voice, the song is allowed to remain what it always was, though the tempo has been stepped up to almost double. There are no exotic squeals on this album, they've had more of a serious go at capturing the spirit of the original and putting just a musical twist on it, something I wish perhaps they'd done with Joy Division.

In their cover of the Modern English classic "I melt with you" there are no surprises as to how it was chosen as their first single and I think really it should have ended the album, it would have meant it went out on the most uplifting of all the songs, the drum beat is built on from the original so it loops better and the song shifts around from ear to ear in your head, it's definitely one you'll be singing for a few weeks and instead of singing it like Grey you'll be singing in the voice of Silja, one of the many guest vocalists on this album. The cover of the Undertones keeps it going in the same tone with yet another different vocalist, here the guitar (unsuprisingly) takes centre stage of the band but for the first and only time. Then the albums closes out with the downbeat "Psyche" and a very relaxed and almost moaned cover of the Specials.

The end to the album is definitely suited to the end of a nice night in after a club and has been used for such a purpose many a time, this is one to listen to when you can't be bothered with all the noise of an extensive rock collection and just want to hear someone sing your favourite songs as lullabies and help you relax. It's a great album, one of the best in a long time if you ask me. Pretty much essential for anyone who occasionally finds themself awake at 4 or 5 in the morning.

Enjoy!

Nouvelle Vague - I melt with you
Nouvelle Vague - In a manner of speaking

Hassle Hound & Limelight Cordial

2005-06-15T20:16:00.000+01:00

Hassle Hound are a band that despite being around since 2003 I am quite new to, and I've not even heard too much of their material, just one EP and another track I found on Ekkehard Ehlers' "Childish Music" compilation that was put out a few months ago. It's the song that I found on this compilation, "Luck bugs win Prizes," that has made me want to hear everything the band has ever put out. Incidentally, if anyone can find copies of their split 7" with Sun on Textile, "Anvil Stamping" from the Twisted Nerve 7" series or "Scaring the grass in the garden" their original Pickled Egg release then I'd be willing to pay money or trade for some other music that they might be interested in.

"Lucky bugs win prizes" is a song that effectively defines just what it is I love about modern music; it's minimalist, upbeat and cheerful and it has a great beat as well. The EP I picked up, "Appalachian Listening Post" is available to download onine and whilst containing three more great little songs it's not quite up to the standard of what is easily my song of the year so far. Mr. Vernon is the main man in the three piece and his work as Vernon & Burns and their alias Boy Band Tax Returns are both worth a look into as well, those albums were either put out on Gagarin or self released.

The band have played extensively throughout France and the UK for two years now and thus have decided to put out a full LP, "Limelight Cordial" which is to be released on Staubgold later this year. This is by quite some way my most anticipated release of the year aside from the recently released Four Tet follow-up to "Rounds," "Everything Ecsatic." Vernon was a founding member of "Radio Tuesday" which was the biggest none-commercial success of Glasgow and indeed Scotland of recent years. He's also put together a lot of other indie radio stations in Glasgow and other than being a part of Hassle Hound that's all he does with his time. Hassle Hound are still looking for some commercial success and after achieving great things with pop music I've no doubt they'll find it soon.

Hassle Hound - Lucky Bugs win Prizes

Tom Vek & We Have Sound

2005-06-15T18:33:00.000+01:00

This album is a strange one to say the least. When you listen to it you know each of the ten tracks could easily feature in an album chart or be Vek's lead single but there are still no astounding stand outs which is quite disappointing. Having said that I think he's still going to have two of the singles of the year in "If you want" and "C-C (You Set The Fire In Me)" which because they are two of the singles, along with "I ain't saying my goodbyes," the third single are the most identifiable songs on the album.

I guess that's the word to sum up this debut, "identifiable" which by no means says that you'll certainly like it, that's it's boring or even that you could relate to it but that it's one that will appeal to the masses. The album is radio friendly, but not in the way that he's not been experimental and made an album with solid music, I think the most accurate depiction of "We have sound" is it's comparisons to Beck's albums. A lot of reviewers have said it's the closest we British have ever come to Beck and I'd agree. However, Beck has been unsure of where his talents lie for a career now and Tom Vek could easily take an album or two deciding on which genre he wants to take a career in, especially if they're all as enjoyable as this one.

The album is at the top of the pile for the new scene of British Alt. Dance with regard to songwriting talent and how enjoyable it is but the fact that it's such a large pile with so many bland artists probably won't help him win over any admirers but it's showing the potential to be the start of something so much more.

The album will end up being one of the albums of the year not because it's ahead of it's time but because it's the landmark of the eclectic British underground artists bunched together as the new wave of dance-pop. Having supported Bloc Party and rumoured to be working with Kaiser Chiefs at some point, it's a good sign that he's commanding the respect of his peers too.

Anyway, this is really one of those albums where you have to make up your own mind:

Tom Vek - C-C (You Set The Fire In Me)
Tom Vek - Nothing but green lights

Smoosh & She Like Electric

2005-06-14T19:15:00.000+01:00

Being that they are just 11 and 13, Asya and Chloe Smoosh are really quite accomplished songwriters and it's no wonder they already have a record deal over at Pattern 25 that has allowed them to already put on a debut. When I first heard about Smoosh in February of this year I got their album and was mostly interested for the sheer novelty of actual children making music and writing it themselves. What I got was alot more than that, I got an interesting and fun pop record that gets regular rotation from me and quite a few people I've since introduced to the band.

The two piece is pretty much the brainchild of Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie who was there when the girls originally bought their instruments nonetheless, apparently the family were out to buy Chloe, the younger of the girls, a violin but ended up leaving with a drum kit and Jason's details as he thought she had some potential. Asya had already taken some piano lessons so the family began selling some home made recordings. Since then the band has played with Jimmy Eat World, Mates of State, Rilo Kiley, Pearl Jam, Death Cab for Cutie, Sleater-Kinney, The Presidents of the United States of America and Cat Power so they are certainly more than just a novelty act.

The album is quite diverse as well, and the vocals of Asya can definitely cope with that which is evident on the track "But now I know" which isn't up for download but I can send it to anyone who messages me. The album has it's fun, uplifting and almost silly moments in "Quack" and even moreso "Rad" but my advice will simply be to expect lots more from them, they will shock you deeply otherwise.

The best thing about Smoosh is probably the way that they are genuinely only making music because they can, because they like other people to have fun and mostly because they can write a killer twee pop song.

Whilst Chloe was originally the reason the band got label interest by the way, expect Asya to steal the show as she wrote a majority of the songs, not to mention the fact that her vocals display maturity far beyond her years.

Smoosh - Rad
Smoosh - Take it Away

Four Tet & Everything Ecstatic

2005-06-14T19:10:00.000+01:00

The new album from Four Tet, one of my favourite artists in today's music scene, is one of the best I've heard for more than a long time. It's the fourth album from the Camden based musician who's had critics rave about his past two albums in particular. His previous album "Rounds" had been seen as a vast improvement to 2001's "Pause" and I too thought his sound was developing more and more and thus found myself eagerly anticipating the new record.

Well, I can tell you now that I wasn't disappointed at all. In fact, quite the opposite, if anything this album could be my favourite of Four Tet's four albums so far. It certainly has the standout tracks to let me decide that, "Smile around the face" is, in my opinion, quite easily the best single he's had, certainly the most accessible for a mainstream market. Another standout would be what I hope he puts out as his second single, "Sun Drums & Soil" which is the best example of some of his nu-jazz sound in the way it builds so well and the songs bursts through beautifully. That, for me, was the one thing that Mr. Hebden's previous work had lacked, a few standouts to perfect what have been some great albums. Sure, "Rounds" had "As serious as your life" and "Pause" had "Twenty-three" but nothing really grabbed you as something to stick on repeat in that weekly trip of yours. All four of the albums so far have had a great flow to them and pretty much been something you could easily pass off as one single track. This one, though, has that flow, has that ability to pass as a single track, has everything the others does but it has oh so much more. It has the anticipation factor in that you know which song is next, you know the titles of the songs and you actually want to buy the singles too. One thing that had previously let me down with Four Tet was the fact that aside from the great remix b-sides he normally has his EPs and 7"s always felt too short.

This album's tracks will put you in a trance and leave you begging for more, that I promise. I'd try and classify his work as something that you can relate to so that you'll be more encouraged to go out there and buy it but I don't quite know what to say, some say he is the chief pioneer of Nu-Jazz and having worked with Matmos and remixed one of Lars Horntveth's songs, "Ticks" he could easily pass as that. His music is something more than that though, it's clear the amount of time he has taken to research forms of music he felt he was unfamiliar with, particularly so on the new record. "Sun Drums & Soil" is again the perfect example with the tribal drums that start it and there's an almsot hymn like quality to the chorus of "Smile around the face."

After "Rounds" achieved some big success as a so-called folktronica album media attention around Hebden's work grew and remixes were requested by alot of major artists; Radiohead, Beth Orton, the Doves and of course the highly praised Madvillain remixes all followed amongst many, many more. With the release of "Everything Ecstatic" Hebden has found himself in the producer's seat for the new Beth Orton album as well.

With this album he has ditched the flowery atmosphere of the last three and gone for a much more experimental album that has more in common with the free jazz of Ornette Coleman and Sun Ra than it does with the previous almost avant-child feel he had with his music. I'm excited at where his career will go from now and if you've not already heard his music this is probably the place to start, if you have already heard his music you'll already know what this album could have been as a follow up to "Rounds," something amazing, joyful and astounding in quality. It has surpassed all expectations as a follow up to "Rounds" and hes grown even more. Considering he's still producing albums from his bedroom, or even if he weren't, this is one of the most groundbreaking and interesting albums of the last 10-15 years.

Four Tet - Smile Around the Face

Four Tet - Sun Drums & Soil